I'm With You, Even If He's Not
by Kiba Sniper
Summary: It's been one year since Commander Julius Root died. Holly has been depressed over it, but can a certain centaur cheer her up?


I'm just testing something out for an uncoming story featuring the Foaly/Holly couple. In all honesty, it's my top pairing in the Artemis Fowl series. This will be sorta short. Sorry.

All characters (c) Eion Colfer

ONESHOT

Holly grumbled miserably in her apartment. Loud gorges of food could be heard from the room next door. Mulch was having a food fest with a few of his dwarf friends. Hearing dwarfs eat was like listening to static from the radio. She sighed, standing up. She stormed over to the room next door.

"Mulch! How many damn times do I have to tell you to keep it down!" Holly demanded, leening next to the opened door.

Three dwarfs, including Mulch, stared at her with confusion.

"...What?" Mulch asked, chewing on a roasted steak. He sat in the lotus position Artemis had taught him while they were looking for the C-Cube. He frowned, adding, "All we're doing is just greeting each other."

One the dwarfs nodded. His name was Lex Forte, Mulch's cousin. "Yeah, Holly! I haven't seen my cousin in ages! Right bro?" he turned to the dwarf he called bro.

The dwart in mention was Lex' little brother Harley. Harley nodded, sticking his tongue at at the elf.

Holly snorted, pulling out a Neutrino-2000 from her belt. She still wore the LEP recon jumpsuit. Over it, she wore a grey coat to cover the patch she made when she ripped her badge off. Her boots were the only thing that actually remained intact from previous detective missions from the Mud Man police as she called them.

Shaking her head, she left the domicle. A dark could was booming over her auburn hair, which was now in a short ponytail.

Mulch darted up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "'Ey, you alright, Holly?"

She slashed the hand off her shoulder with a judo chop. She cocked her head towards the calender in her room, then stormed off to the city.

Lex poked his head out from Mulch's room. "Yo! Everythin' awright here?"

Mulch shrugged. Taking Holly's final gestures, he strolled over to her calender. He muttered jobs on her calender, until the day before today caught his eyes. "...The...hell? Boys, check this out!"

The dwarf brothers rushed over, Harley asking, "What? We were having a staring contest."

"The day before today! Says Holly visited Chix Verbal and the Kelp brothers! Whatever for though bothers me. Verbal always pissed me the hell off, Grub was a whiny punk and Trouble is just plain annoying."

Harley stared at today's date. "...Oh."

"What 'oh', Harley?"

"Mulch, look at today."

Mulch glanced over to the calender and gasped. His eyes bulged, nearly exploding from their sockets. He took in deep breaths, attempting to re-gain his composure. The dwarf mentally kicked himself for behaving so ignorant. How could he be so blind? Especially on a day like today.

The day of Commander Root's death.

He slapped his forehead. Mulch tried to run after Holly, but felt a strong grip on his arm. He glanced backwards and noticed Lex.

Lex had a stern look in his eyes. "It's betta to let a woman figure it out on her own."

Mulch stared at the ground. More particularly, his hiking boots. He decided the use the excuse of, "Boots are dirty. I'm gonna go and wash 'em."

Before the dwarf brothers could reply, Mulch unhinged his jaw and took an enormous amount of the wall away. He ungracefully leaped out the window. To his dismay, he landed in an dumpster filled with distainful contents. He moaned as he peeled a black banana off his beard. Mulch looked around to see if Holly was still in sight. She wasn't.

_"If only I hadn't been so stubborn. I should've listened to her, went with her. Julius' death was just a year ago, so it's gotta be tough on her. That guy was like a father to her. Man, poor Holly."_

Mulch glanced back up at the stunned cousins. He waved to them before unhinging his jaw again and taking a large amount of soil in his mouth. He was going to tunnel his way to Holly.

The elf girl in mention was dashing throughout the city. Holly shoved anyone in her way. Most cursed at her, but a few just stared at her with confusion. Holly glared at them. Her mind was flooded with her precious father figure Root. She stopped, clenching her fists. Pitifully, she slammed her fist into her plam. It was a honestly dredful attempt to relieve her fury.

Meanwhile, the techie centaur Foaly was busy tinkering with the C-Cube Artemis gave him. He had a disinterested look on his face. Every since Holly left with that convict Mulch, he had been in a miserable mood. However, ever since Chix Verbal informed him off Holly's visit, he had been in a stump. Why didn't Holly speak to him? Why didn't she swing by to say hello? Many unanswered questions ran through his mind.

He grunted, tossing the C-Cube hastily aside. His mind was pretty much in turmoil. Root died last year of today, Holly visiting the LEP recon, but not seeing him, and the crime increase in Haven City was pretty bad as well. Foaly heard the door click open. He swivled around in his specialized chair.

Commander Trouble Kelp stormed in, holding a few papers under his arm. Trouble nervously glanced around. Seeing no one around was a good sign in his case. He sighed with dramatic effects.

"What's up, _Commander_?" Foaly asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He was definately not going to get used to calling the elf "Commander".

The newly appointed leader frowned. He was not going to get used to Foaly's...behavior. "I'm giving you a day off."

"What? Am I dreaming? A day off?" Foaly stood up. He trotted over to Trouble and stared directly in his eyes. "Julius never allowed me to get a day off."

"Well, I am. Besides," He handed Foaly a letter. "I was supposed to deliver this to my new assitant."

"Who's that?"

"...Grub."

The centaur burst into laughter. "I'm sure he loves working behind a cubicle!"

"Yes, he tells our mother everyday," Trouble replied, shifting his weight. He straightened himself to full height. Which was around three feet and two inches. "Do you want to leave or not? If not, I'll just give it to Verbal."

Foaly's blood boiled. Yesterday, Chix told him that Holly kissed his cheek. She never kissed his cheek, but why Chix? What made him so special? Perhaps it was just because he was a pixie? Maybe the fact that he was a centaur caused her to keep her distance. Staring at the letter, he accepted the offer and left.

Trouble watched as he left. A few seconds later, he whistled and Grub and Chix flew in. Well, Chix carried him in. Trouble grabbed a key and unlocked a case. He pulled out a few naughty videos, asking, "Ready boys?"

"Yes, sir!"

Foaly left the LEP recon police plaza. He placed the letter in his pocket and forced himself to try and remember to give Trouble's letter to Grub.

_"Of course I'll remember. I'm a genius after all!" _

He trotted off into the city. Bustling cars filled the streets, along with citizens piling through the streetwalks. Foaly noticed a fellow centaur getting shoved down by a female elf. The elf immediately fled the scene in a hurry, after shoving a few more people. He growled angrily. He began chasing after the girl.

The elf girl noticed him follow her. She froze for a moment, then stopped. Suddenly, she dashed off.

"Hey!" Foaly snapped. He dashed off and full speed ahead. The girl was fast. Faster than any normal fairy girl. Foaly knew this, but couldn't calculate the reason why. Normal fairy girls run about an average pace, but this was beyond it.

He knew only one girl that could run like this: Holly Short.

Foaly chased the girl he believed to be Holly, until they dashed up to a graveyard. She skidded to a stop in front of a silver colored grave. Foaly grabbed her arm, seething from his teeth. "I got you now! How dare you shove a fellow cen-" He paused in mid-sentence recognizing the girl. "...Holly?"

Holly gasped. "Foaly! It's you!"

He relinquished the grasp on her arm. He blinked for a few seconds. Finally, he demanded, "Why the rush? You shoved down a fellow centaur."

She stared at the gravestone. "Commander Root died today. I wanted to visit his grave. People still believe that I killed him."

"I don't," Foaly replied as they sat down in front of Root's grave. "I've seen the video feed, but this time with the audio." He paused, than added, "I was told that you visited yesterday. How come you didn't come to see me?"

"Chix said you weren't there."

"Damn that pixie! He's as bad as Koboi!"

She laughed, but returned her gaze to Root's stone. Her eyes were filled with misery.

Foaly observed this and made a mental note. _"Never joke around in front of Julius' grave while Holly's around."_

The elf suddenly burst into laughter. She knew she shocked Foaly, since he inched away. Holly smiled at Root's grave. She felt the memories flooding back to her. The fun ones, like the time she and Root began riding Foaly like an actual human horse. He was the one that gave her the job as a captain. He was the one that chose her to be on her team. Root was the one who treated her like the daughter he never had.

The centaur pinched her cheek, interupting her from her happiness. "Eh, Holly? You okay?"

She glared at him. "I was thinking," she whispered in a high-pitched voice. "about Commander Root."

Foaly instantly stopped. He, too, had lovely memories with the Commander. The time Root personally made him the chief techie on his squad. Where he and Root stopped Sool's attempt to kill Holly. Finally, where Root hired him on the spot.

"...Julius was a grand friend to us all, Holly. I'm sure he'd be proud of you." Foaly gave her a genuine smile. It was one of the first times where he wasn't being sarcastic. "Nah, he is proud of you."

For the first time in a long time, Holly cried. She sobbed on Foaly's chest. Tears of sorrow, tears of loss, but most of all, tears of compassion for her deceased commander. The elf clutched his brown vest, buring the rest of her face in his chest. A hand touched her cheek. Looking up with blurry eyes, she saw Foaly smiling down on her.

Foaly patted her head. Then, he held her hand against his chest. "Holly, it's o-okay." His voice was slightly slurred since tears began pouring from his eyes.

Thus, they both cried on each other's shoulders. The loss of someone they both treasured was too great for someone alone to just bare. However, they had each other. Their bond was stronger. Foaly hoped Holly was just realize that.

Behind them, was a dirty Mulch Diggums. He was hiding behind a large tombstone. It was long enough to cover his entire body. _"Heh heh! This is gonna be so freakin' good! I'd hate to see their kids..."_

Holly pulled away, much to Foaly's disatisfaction. She wiped the rest of her tears from her hazel eyes. Her smile was broad and wide, gleaming with her pearly whites. "Foaly, thank you. I...I needed that."

Foaly felt a hot blush on his face. Looking away, he muttered, "There's no need to thank me. It's just that-!" he covered his mouth with both hands, facing away from her.

She leaped in front of him with the grace of an angel. "Hey, what is wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Tell me."

"No."

"You will."

"I won't."

"Will!"

"Won't."

"Will!"

"No, I refuse. Simple as that!" 

"You are going to tell me, wether you approve or not."

"D'Arvit Holly!"

She laughed in his face, pinching his cheek. "Then tell me!" 

"But you'll laugh!" 

"I swear I will not laugh at Foaly the Centaur, whatever stupid thing he says to me next."

Foaly looked away, saying, "Alright. Well, I'm just letting you know that...I'm with you, even if he's gone." Foaly glanced up to see her reaction. Would she laugh? He prayed to the gods that she wouldn't.

Holly blushed, looking around to see if anyone was watching them. Finally, she bent down next to him since he was still sitting and kissed him. On the cheek, of course.

"Thank you, Foaly."

A boisterious laughter came from behind them. They turned around and saw Mulch Diggums, holding his gut. "Man! I cannot believe it! Foaly, you idiot! Comin' on like that is pa-the-tic!"

Foaly snorted, standing up. He trotted over to him. After a few moments of Mulch laughing/insulting at him, Foaly snapped and punched him in his face. He held his hand, groaning in agony. "His face is hard."

Holly laughed, staring at Mulch's limp figure. "Well, wanna come to my apartment?"

"Awright!" Foaly replied, trotting beside her.

"...What about me?" Mulch asked.

"What about you?"

"I can't move!"

"And I don't really care. Let's go Holly."

"Sure," the elf replied, "Mulch has been annoying anyway."

"Ah, c'mon! Holly! Centaur! Help me get up!"

END

Sorry if the ending was sudden. I couldn't think of anyway to finish it.


End file.
